Since (fortunately) I don't live in Utah I'm curious about the following.

1. Real Estate. Do LDS realtors work on Sundays ? How about open houses ? Do they do that only Saturdays or Sundays too ?

2. Are supermarkets open on Sundays in Villages where they have 80+% LDS members ? What if LDS people meet in a supermarket or mall on a Sunday ? Do they shamefully look down ? Any funny stories you can share ?

3. Do they guilt you to death when they see you coming out of a Starbucks ?

Feel free to share some stories regarding these things.

1. I'm not positive, but I can only assume that realtors only work on Saturdays

2. Most local stores and supermarkets are closed on sundays. Only national corporations are open sundays, and yes, people do look shamefully down on you if they see you coming out of walmart with some groceries on a sunday. It's happened to me a few times.

3. Yeah, pretty much. They may not say anything to you, necessarily, but you'd get looks and whispers and you would know they're judging the hell out of you if they saw you walking out of starbucks with a coffee in hand.

Thanks for sharing. Isn't it sad what people turn into if religion is applied to strictly ? The simple message of love and forgiveness gets overturned by endless rigid rules that inevitably lead to a judgmental people.

If they saw you coming out of a Walmart on a Sunday what were they doing there ?

Staring you down Wrote:
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> If they saw you coming out of a Walmart on a
> Sunday what were they doing there ?

Tracting. :)

haha not necessarily would they see me coming out of walmart, but i've had a few experiences where i'll be in my church clothes and I would run to walmart to pick up some necessities, come home and unload the groceries out of my car when my neighbors are coming home from church. I got the nastiest looks ever. it was funny.

They suddenly go blind and don't actually "see" each other.

I didn't see you, you didn't see me. We shall speak no more about this. Oh, wait, I'm in the wrong aisle.

Sounds like MSBS:

Mormon Situational Blindness Syndrome ...


:)

Perhaps in small towns it is more of a problem.

In Utah County, Smiths wanted to build a store in Highland, but the zoning board would not let them sell beer, or be open on Sunday. They dickered back and forth for a while, and finally Smiths got tired of the nonsense, and built a large complex just outside Highland city limits, so all the tax money goes to Lehi.

Similar thing happened just down the road in American Fork. There is a huge amount of retail development on State Street just NW of American Fork. It includes the Starbucks that the Utah County exmos have met at from time to time. Most of the businesses are in Lehi, because AF was overmuch righteous. They have now seen the light, and yea, verily, it was green, the color of money. I don't know about Highland. The Smiths debacle is still too recent to know if they have had a change of heart.

Realtors don't work on Sundays--no open houses on Sundays.

Many local stores/restaurants are closed. Chain stores and chain restaurants are not. Wal-Mart started out here closed on Sundays until the first Christmas season--that was over 15 years ago. The new Arby's was closed on Sundays until the Carl's Jr. opened up nextdoor. Now they are open on Sundays.

Movie theaters have to stay open (my daughter worked for a locally-owned one and the movie companies have a contract you have to sign that you show their movies 365 days a year).

My boyfriend was here a few years ago at Thanksgiving and I had a flat tire on Sunday. He had to catch is plane to get to work on Monday morning. He hated Wal-Mart until that day. It was the ONLY PLACE in Cache Valley that could fix the tire or provide me with a new tire on Sunday.

I have to take note of the fact that "Macey's" in Cache Valley is closed on Sunday. Mormons flock to that store. If you buy alcohol there, the people can barely bring themselves to touch it. Macey's also does not sell cigarettes. (I'm surprised they still sell alcohol--maybe they don't--I haven't been in there much in years).

What happened to free agency ?

I would see wardmembers at Harmons in Utah valley on sundays all the time... They would always act like they didn't see me and just put their head down and proceed to checkout.

My GF stopped going to a certain liquor store because she kept seeing people from her parent's ward there haha.

How about going out to eat on Sunday? how do the TBM's justify getting someone else to cook and serve their meals?

They don't eat out on Sunday. EVER.

Now that I no longer abide by the rule of not eating out on Sundays, I have frequented restaurants on the "sabbath." I have been stunned by the number of men wearing suits with Mormon ties, or tie pins, and the women wearing dresses.

I was surprised to learn that my cousin's parents frequently took her out to dinner on Sundays. Her mother grew up in the same house as my father, and my father is ultra-TBM.

My favorite incident was when my family were at a restaurant on Sunday. We had been out of the church for a couple years at the time. We saw people from our former ward also at the restaurant. My husband gave them a very pleasant greeting.

I don't remember all the details, but not long ago a law was passed in Utah that made it illegal for car dealerships to be open on Sunday. I heard silly remarks like it wasn't fair to those who were closed on Sunday because of religious beliefs for the others to be open. boo hoo

It's not Sunday, it's one day a week. They have to be closed one day each week. That's so Larry Miller could close his dealerships on Sunday and not lose any business. Most other dealers chose to close on Sunday as well.

in utah valley, smiths and costco are open on sundays... no pizza delivery available.

In salt lake city, tons of groceries and an increasing number of eateries are open on sundays... plenty to do there.

When I was growing up in Utah County there was no beer sales on Sunday. Every once in a while my family would go for a "Sunday drive" down to Nephi (in Juab county) so my dad could get some beer.

I think they did away with that silly law several years ago.

actually it is still illegal to purchase beer on sundays as far as I know, in Orem anyways.

Here in North Carolina, you can't buy beer/wine on Sunday until 1PM -- game time.

New Mexico you can't buy alcohol till 12:00 pm on Sundays- you're not supposed to be drunk at church, lol.

Salt Lake isn't a problem. It depends on where you live otherwise. You can usually find a restaurant or gas station open and there are always 7 11s. Movies , at least the big chains and the chain grocery stores are generally open. Smaller Mom and Pop type businesses depend on the beliefs of the owners and whether it is profitable. I grew up in a very small town in Southern Utah and we had some businesses open. The restaurant was always open as was a diner. The drugstore was open for a couple of hours and you could go to a movie. The grocery store and retail stores were all closed. If I remember, all the gas stations were open. We did live in a town with a diverse population though. Other towns practically rolled up the sidewalks.I have noticed that most of the larger towns have some things open. Tiny towns can be a problem.

You don't even have to participate in anything destructive, dangerous, rude, or illegal.

Just mow your lawn on Sunday.

Or unload your groceries JUST when the neighbors are trudging to church.


But seriously, it can be awkward when you first leave the church and you are still worried about being judged.

But after a while you realize that it doesn't MATTER what they think. And besides, judgementalism is one of the few joys allowed in Mormonism. You wouldn't want to deny them THAT would you?

I used think everything is closed on sundays outside of this state.

Yes, most stores are closed on sundays, expect Walmart, but here the Target is closed in my town. Sears is open, Dillards and most big stores like that. lots of restaurants Cafe Rio, Subways are closed which pissed me off. Some very good restaurants are closed too.

But when I went to New Mexico 10 years ago, man Walmart was packed in Albuquerque there was no parking for miles!

Yes,The judging is so bad here its just so flipping rude!

Nobody in Utah is lukewarm about the Church. They either love it or hate it, which, I think, is worse than not knowing anything about the Church. Those who hate Mormons usually judge a whole doctrine based on the practice of imperfect people, who comprise all of us. If you attend church and go shopping on Sunday, the non-members will treat you as a hypocrite and make you feel you should abandon an entire faith system. Because let's face it, you can't hack it.

Be perfect or bust--that was never the intent of the LDS religion. The intent was to use the principle of repentance, through the atoning sacrifice of a perfect being, to become better. A cute rhyme says: "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Saint on his knees."

Maybe what I don't like about living in Utah is that non-members judge church members who fail extremely harshly, something I didn't feel when I lived outside of the Beehive State. If you read the above comments or comments posted on Utah newspaper websites, you'll discover so much hatred towards the Church. Seeing active members fail helps non-members justify their ways. Members do fail all the time, but they understand that church is not a hotel for saints but a hospital for sinners.

Dude Wrote:
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> Nobody in Utah is lukewarm about the Church. They
> either love it or hate it, which, I think, is
> worse than not knowing anything about the Church.
> Those who hate Mormons usually judge a whole
> doctrine based on the practice of imperfect
> people, who comprise all of us. If you attend
> church and go shopping on Sunday, the non-members
> will treat you as a hypocrite and make you feel
> you should abandon an entire faith system. Because
> let's face it, you can't hack it.
>
> Be perfect or bust--that was never the intent of
> the LDS religion. The intent was to use the
> principle of repentance, through the atoning
> sacrifice of a perfect being, to become better. A
> cute rhyme says: "Satan trembles when he sees the
> weakest Saint on his knees."

To become better? No, the purpose is to become PERFECT. Only perfection inherits the CK. LDSInc. is based on works, and only perfect works will win the prize.

>
> Maybe what I don't like about living in Utah is
> that non-members judge church members who fail
> extremely harshly, something I didn't feel when I
> lived outside of the Beehive State. If you read
> the above comments or comments posted on Utah
> newspaper websites, you'll discover so much hatred
> towards the Church. Seeing active members fail
> helps non-members justify their ways. Members do
> fail all the time, but they understand that church
> is not a hotel for saints but a hospital for
> sinners.

Yer funnny dood...

Hypocritical sinners, Dude, that's the difference.

I can be imperfect here in California along with a lot of imperfect people and if I fail, so what? I'm not holding myself out as a person who "just has more light" than anyone else. I'm not holding up my life habits of eating spinach instead of doughnuts as a symbol if my enlightenment. I'm not pledging to never eat potato chips as an example to you, my lower-level neighbor.

But if I did, and you saw me, well of course you would smirk and think, "caught ya' beeyotch--you're no better than anyone else."

Sorry, Hello, you're mistaken: that only those who are perfect on Earth can attain celestial glory is not a mormon doctrine.

Anagrammy: The Church asks members who give looks of judgment or display pride in knowledge to repent. They shouldn't be holding up their life habits; it's wrong. And the Church agrees.

Yesterday the news broke that Utah has the lowest DUI fatality rate in the country. Those life habits have saved lives, in my opinion.

Oh, you're going to qualify that with an "on Earth". Not what you said the first time, "Be perfect or Bust", that was never the intent of the LDS religion".

Don't you agree that the works and efforts to become perfect asap (and all the guilt tripping that goes along with that) are the primary driving forces among earthly LDS members? And please, don't quote the RS manual in your answer.

Yep, Utah has the lowest DUI fatality rate. They also have the lowest smoking rate.

How do they do with traffic fatalities in general?

How 'bout suicides?

How 'bout business and stock fraud?

How 'bout depression?

But, yeah, they probably do drink and drive less than other states, and that is a good thing. But it comes at a price.